Thread: Door latch repair

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Have you manually operated the latching mechanism? Is it smooth?
By slowly closing the door, can you see if the pin is centered to the latch?

If you look at where the pin mounts to the door, can you see any difference in the paint? Can you tell if the pin has moved?

Originally Posted by 34_40

Have you manually operated the latching mechanism? Is it smooth?
By slowly closing the door, can you see if the pin is centered to the latch?

If you look at where the pin mounts to the door, can you see any difference in the paint? Can you tell if the pin has moved?

To continue down Mike's path, if you take a large round shank screw driver you can actuate the latching mechanism and prove that it's operating smoothly, two clicks to totally close, then actuate the handle to see that it pops open smooth, too. If the latch is not binding then the problem is alignment. Could be that long, heavy door has worn through the bronze bushings in the hinges and is sagging. Could be that you replaced weather stripping and either got the wrong stuff or positioned it wrong so it's not letting the door fit into the body space smoothly. Could be that the car got hit in a previous life, and the pillar that mounts the pin got put back a little off. Could be lots of things, but it's alignment critical, and very small movements make very big changes.

Beat me to it, your door bushings or your actual hinges need to be replaced.

Rebuild kits are around $10/each
New hinges, about $70/each

Originally Posted by rspears

To continue down Mike's path, if you take a large round shank screw driver you can actuate the latching mechanism and prove that it's operating smoothly, two clicks to totally close, then actuate the handle to see that it pops open smooth, too. If the latch is not binding then the problem is alignment. Could be that long, heavy door has worn through the bronze bushings in the hinges and is sagging. Could be that you replaced weather stripping and either got the wrong stuff or positioned it wrong so it's not letting the door fit into the body space smoothly. Could be that the car got hit in a previous life, and the pillar that mounts the pin got put back a little off. Could be lots of things, but it's alignment critical, and very small movements make very big changes.